I-Thunderbird Community Forum

Good morning, I had asked a question early on Saturday, but was unavailable the rest of the weekend so just now responding to associate Corey Bryan's answer. I had gotten a message that I am using an unsupported version and they recommend downloading the latest stable version.

He said it appears that I'm on the "Release" channel and most likely want to be on the ESR channel. I also mentioned that I am a cave-man when it comes to anything computer and am very skittish about making any changes as I don't how to straighten out any errors that might occur.

He asked me where I installed Thunderbird from and the answer is that I don't know. It was an IT guy that did it many years ago.

So I guess my questions are, if I've been using this version for years, do I need to or should I update it? If so, if I click on the latest stable version of Thunderbird, will that change anything on my computer, aside from getting the newer version of T-Bird? And will my e-mails in Thunderbird look any different?

Thanks very much for the help. Tony

I have a new laptop and did a backup of my files on the older laptop (Windows Home) and restored them to the new laptop (Windows Pro). Then I installed Thunderbird on the new laptop and I already had e-mails on it. But there are thousands of e-mails in the wrong folders.

The Windows Home has Thunderbird 128.10.oesr (32 bit) and the Windows Pro laptop has Thunderbird 128.9.2esr (64 bit). What should I do? Should I uninstall Thunderbird on the new laptop? Then what?

I need to do something with a profile folder, right? But what?

Please help.

It's a mess right now.

I just upgraded to 128.2.2esr and cannot receive or send messages after the update. I have restarted the computer and tried again - still nothing. I'm unable to use a tool that is critical for my daily needs.

Trying to send just says "Connected" or "Sending" but never completes. Worked fine before the update which was just in the past hour or so.

Same issues with downloading new email or sending email for all accounts. :(

Anyone else having problems? Ideas?

Thank you!

A few weeks ago after an automatic update I ended up having Thunderbird version 131.0.1 installed, I have no idea how this happened. On opening I get a message telling me I shouldn't be using a beta version and that I should revert to the latest general release version (128.4)

Today when I had some free time I downloaded 128.4 and installed it. On opening it it says that I can't use a profile file from a later version with the earlier version. Is there a way to recover from this WITHOUT having to set up the whole profile again from scratch.

Meanwhile I have done a system restore so I am back with 131.0.1 It has not given me any problems so far. Is there a new general release version imminent that will get me back on track?

I would appreciate any help I am not a computer expert, just a user, and find Thunderbird a very good email client.

David Gould

I am trying to upgrade from 128 esr version to the new 139 version. I tried several ways to transfer data from the old version to the new version - I tried to export and import a the Thunderbird zip file. I also tried to open profile manager and creating a new profile that refers to a copy from my old version. Nothing has worked. In the old Thunderbird 128 version, if I select Help and Troubleshooting Information and then Open Folder next to the Profile Folder I get an error in Thunderbird that it can’t find my profile. I get the same error message when I go to Tools, export and select "open profile folder." This in spite of the fact that the old version continues to correctly display my contacts, tasks and events

After several hours of this, I finally decided to download version 139 using the standard Mozilla set up even though my Thunderbird 128 version is located someplace else. So, at this time I have two working versions of thunderbird on my computer – the old 128 version with all my data and the new 139 version with no data.

I think I need help figuring out which Profile has my contact, calendar and task data. Then I need help getting it to the new version.

Thanks

Luke

I had an TB account with Spectrum but lost it when I didn't have Spectrum anymore. I got Sprectrum as my internet provider and am trying to create a new TB email account but have not been successful. Can you help me

I have a new w11 laptop. I would like to install Thunderbird. I have 8 email accounts on the old W10 computer. I plan on keeping the old W10 computer running and using TB. All my accounts are IMAP--Yahoo, gmail, hotmail (now outlook) but I have an pretty extensive Local folder collection on the old W10 Would I be better off just installing TB on the new W11 computer and adding each email and start fresh or should I venture into copying the W10 profile (some of the instructions seem a bit confusing). If I add all my emails as a fresh start to the new W11 computer could I then just copy the LOCAL folders in the W10 Profile and paste it into the W11 profile?

I've never knowingly installed a non-mainline thunderbird, but earlier this week I started getting the following when I open Thunderbird:

This is an unsupported version of Thunderbird!! Thunderbird monthly releases are not considered stable for general use. Use at your own risk, this build is the same quality as Thunderbird Beta.

Checking the version of thunderbird.exe It says its v131, which happens to be the same as the copy of Firefox installed. When I remove and reinstall Thunderbird it starts off as 128 but quickly changes to 131, even after uninstalling Firefox. (Also annoyingly, this stomps on the version in the profile, which 128 claims is no longer compatible, because Thunderbird isn't clever enough to save a copy of files when it makes "breaking" changes to user files)

I wouldn't being on 131 if actually worked, but it gets stuck in the handshake with my IMAP server, and doesn't even show the local folder caches. (It also for some reason shows the window controls on left side of the window title bar, rather than the right).

How can I restore standard functionality?

In Windows 11, the Address Book is accessed via an icon on top left of the TB main page or Alt+2. In Windows 11 is there a similar key combination to view the folders below Local Folders?

Yesterday I upgraded my PC from Windows 10 to 11. Today I discovered my Local Folders are not visible. Searching tells me the messages still exist, but TB does not show the folders. I did the same upgrade a month ago on a laptop (Windows 10 Pro to 11), no problems. I didn't externally back up the messages as I am a dinosaur and don't know how, but at least they are still on the hard drive. Thousands of them though so I need the local folders back. Tried all the fixes I can find on the Community Forum, without success. Can anyone help please? Bob

I just installed Thunderbird on a second computer and I'm having serious issues with my email. The install recognized me without having to log in with my password. However almost all the emails are missing with the exception of one folder called Trash. There is nothing in the inbox and no sub-folders are showing. I logged out and then reopened Thunderbird and again it opened without asking for my password. It's very strange and alarming quite frankly. Everything worked quite well on the first computer so what gives with fiasco? Unless somebody comes up with a solid answer and fixes this, it will be the last time I use Thunderbird. Patrick

I tried to use Thunderbird today,.. to find the interface was broken, menus were blank, so no ability to look at anything., and error message inferring there was a menu config issue was all that was shown. I duly removed Thunderbird as a snap install, which took a long time as it seemed to be making a backup to somewhere. I then reinstalled Thunderbird 128.11.0esr (64-bit) on my ubuntu 24.04,.. having setup the isp email credentials,.. all seemed fine,.. I then proceeded to import what I assumed was my old local folders... And this is where things went wrong, as I seem to have lost all my archived 2025 emails,.. I say somewhere,.. as I don't seem to be able to find them, I have used the 'find' command to locate anything with 2025 in the file name,.. but without success. At the moment I have a multi-structured 'local folder' entry, but nothing with 2025 in? I anyone able to shed some light on what I may have done wrong Many tx

Ran your update today. Thunderbird has completely disappeared. The shortcuts no longer work. When doing a search in Explorer I find a Thunderbird folder in C:\Programs. There is no file named Thunderbird there and the three exe files either do noting or complain that something is missing.

I am now missing literally thousands of emails.

I have received two emails from Spark wanting me to switch my email to their program. I hope you can fix this screw up because if you do not I will switch my email to Spark and make my default browser Chrome. I do not support companies that do what you just did. Completely unacceptable.

Windows 10 Home No info on Thunderbird because you messed up and I can't run it.

Thunderbird freezes/hangs on restart (mac OS 15.4), including in safe mode. I've updated to 137.0.2 from 129 and the same problem occurs. It only displays "Looking up gmail.com" and I get the spinning disk of doom and have to do a force quit…

For a few days a banner persists on the lower left of the message window. It obscures content. ""Upgrade to Thunderbird Release"" I have checked twice to make sure there is no update available. Why does this annoying message persist after I run the update. I have rebooted the application multiple times. I do not want to click "Learn more" on the annoying banner promoting "Get monthly updates. with new features and improvements in the new Thunderbird Release" Is it malware? If the application is up to date why are you forcing me to "Learn more"? This is not a good user experience. My MacBook Air is up to date. Thunderbird release 128.11.1esr

Dear Thunderbird team I am an avid user of TB (home desktop Windows PCs), but I have been resting on my laurels on v78 for a few years now. I know, shame on me. I would like to upgrade to a stable "modern" release (emphasis on "stable" please). Can you please advise if I should aspire to end up on 115 or 128, and how I might get there ? From reading some older blogs, there is advice that says.... first go to v91, then v102, then v115, and so. That seems a bit tortuous, but I am happy to do so if that is still the recommended approach.

Also, can you advise on how I manage my Profile through all this, do I need to do various exports/imports as I move through these different versions, etc.

Many Thanks

I am on 115.13.0 (32-bit) yes, and oddly it says updates disabled by system admin (that's me). I have no idea how to change that. No way I took steps to disable thunderbird updates. I found only one thread on how to reenable but it was very vague and the OP did not arrive at a perfect fix.

I've used Thunderbird for years, and I LOVE it! A few days ago, my hard drive died. I had it replaced, and I've used my data backup to recover much. I did NOT have programs/apps backed up. I need VERY SPECIFIC steps to download and reinstall Thunderbird so that it uses my old profile. Should I first delete EVERYTHING having to do with Thunderbird and start anew? I did download it today and then went to the C:Users/Owner/AppData/Roaming/Thunderbird folder. In that folder, I deleted the "new" profile file (I think!). Then I moved my backed up folder called Profiles into that directory. I tried to get Thunderbird to use that profile, but no luck. I'm reasonably intelligent (I've been told!), but I can't figure how to do this, and I truly need a step-by-step blueprint. Do I download Thunderbird first? If so, what do I then do to make it find the old profile. I'm running Windows 11 Home on a PC. Right now, I'm going for a long walk to clear my brain. In the interim, if one of you really smart, nice experts could give me instructions on how to do this, I'd be eternally grateful. I have numerous folders, and some really important old emails in that old profile. I also would like to be able to retrieve my address book and calendars ... which I ASSUME are part of the old profile. Thanks in advance for ANY assistance! Don't assume I know ANYTHING!!

I'm running Thunderbird on Mac OS 15.3. I have two POP accounts in Thunderbird; the configuration has been stable for years. This evening, I went to add a new account, and Thunderbird seemed to have decided to update itself, including flipping me over to Chrome where it opened a page about Supernova.

Thunderbird relaunched and came up with an empty "Chat" window. My usual mail window is gone -- and I can't get it back. I can't get an "About Thunderbird" window to open.

I actually can't figure out what happened. My mail appears to be gone. My accounts seem to be gone. I can't open Settings, I can't open Account Settings.

Wait, the mail accounts seem to still exist -- I can tell Thunderbird to check mail, and the POP server shows the checks happening -- but if I send mail to myself, nothing opens. Also, all of the Layout menu options are greyed out.

Help? :-)

Thanks, Vince

The first problem cropped up immediately: Thunderbird has done a pretty good job for years of recognizing my email preferences for Inbox, Trash and Junk; now it no longer delivers email to my Inbox or Trash at startup. Almost all of my email goes to the Junk folder, including that from whitelisted senders. All of my individual spam filters and my whitelist are set to act when email is received, but I have to run the whitelist manually to get it to work (sometimes more than once). The only way I can get things into the Trash folder is to put them there manually, as TB apparently has forgotten everything it learned about my email preferences. I did take the opportunity to update my Whitelist (though to no avail), so I guess I'm sort of glad that I was goaded into doing so. But it hasn't helped.

As of tonight, I can't write or reply to an email or edit an email draft because TB locks up while it is "Copying messages to Drafts..." I've had to close TB ten or twelve times, and I've not been given the opportunity to make a bug comment during the closing routine.

I have emptied the TB cache in hopes that doing so would clear up these issues. Though that works well in Firefox, it didn't help with these problems.

I also am not too happy about the disappearance of the File Edit ... folder bar and its being replaced with a hamburger drop-down menu at the upper right, but at least it will suffice once I've unlearned almost thirty years of doing things a certain way.

I really don't want to stop using Thunderbird. I like the program, and I'd hate to have wasted the two solid weeks it took to get Yahoo! Mail to acknowledge its existence and let me connect to their service, which I did under duress. Not that I'm a masochist or anything.

Windows 11 Ver. 24H2 (OS Build 26.100.4351) Thunderbird Ver. 139.0.2 (64-bit) HP something-or-other tower computer, vintage 2021